busy girl

so...i have been a busy girl...but, at school-stuff, not extracurricular. also, there have been two students from my first teaching experience who have died...right before classes started, one of my former students was shot in the back and died...no leads, as far as i know...very sad. he was a young father and had some good prospects towards basketball at a 4-year college in virginia. then, from the same class, another student was found to have killed himself just outside of his home - he was reported missing and then found a day or so later. he was a sweet kid who had just finished his first year at college. such a waste of life. i have heard people talking in the hall about "being gay is no reason for a 19-yo to take his life" but i am not sure if they were referring to that student or not - but it makes me want to be more out in class and be a role-model...i am just not sure how out i can be without jeopardizing my job/future jobs. it is a sad time when you cannot be yourself in a job for fear of losing that job. but, i also need to remember that i am in a fairly small-town county and i need to take it slowly. i hate not being able to talk about fonda openly - not like we haven't been together for 17+ years or anything like that. grrrr. frustrating that i am still talking about my "sweety" and not my "girlfriend" or my "wife" or just "fonda!" ok - enough bitching! i will do it as i may and be OK with it, eventually.

anyways - i finally took one day to sew and finished the main part of the scrappy quilt with mom's fabrics - it is a big conglomeration and is about 70x80 and it is likely to be an office quilt - we shall see - it needs a border and then, of course to be quilted...i need to find a good mom-fabric for the back. it has some good mom-fabrics and then some additional katie- and fonda-fabrics. i think she would have liked it. it is a sew and add and then add some more and then trim straight and then use the trimmed-off stuff for the base of the next piece...i think it will be a good office quilt (it is damn cold in the current office).

ok, i think it is time to start psyching myself up for teaching to a bunch of sleepy students, not all of whom want to be there, but they show up none-the-less because attendance is part of the grade : ) (evil that i can be). taking about meiosis and mitosis is hard - but easier than atoms, i think...i just asked doc how he does it (teaching, research, advising, personal life, sleep...) he hasn't gotten back to me yet - probably sleeping : )

peace for now.

so...here we are

in leland, nc. f hates the house (because of issues, not space) and i like the house, even if there are issues (leak @ kitchen sink, tub and toilet in craft-area to name just the beginning of the list)...we have had such trauma getting settled here for some of the things - let alone the stealing of a box (150) of checks out of our new mailbox and someone having a good time spending our money with them...we have been here just over one week and just yesterday got internet access at the house (YAY!) and a phone (mixed). boxes are not where we wanted - things are scattered around the house, but all seems to have made it here in one piece. the cats are here and fonda and i are figuring out where things are, physically - we haven't ventured into Wilmington yet, but that is only a matter of time.

the movers were sneaky and ended up charging us almost twice what they had quoted - bass-turds. anyways - we lived through the experience and if you ever need to move get a "not to exceed" quote rather than an oral quote just to save yourself a bit of shock and anger - and the guys said they want us to give them another chance when we move out of here, yeah, right. that is not going to happen - i tell you this now - they will never get another chance to dick us over. the helpers were great, but the boss sucked - bud brooks - wanted fonda to sign for a brochure he never had for us (which explained the difference between the move he did for us and the "not to exceed" move) and said "my business card could be the brochure" and i just wanted to smack him. anyways - we are settling in and working out what goes where and moving a box 5+ times and still, we have "too much" room here - not that *i* am complaining (smile) - i am happy to have too much room, but i would like a bit more storage space in the kitchen and maybe some rods and/or doors on the closets...not that i am complaining (much)...

anyways - classes started on wednesday and i have "miss thing" in my class again - if i don't kick her butt by the end of the semester, i should get a metal. classes are PACKED not enough $$ to pay a teacher and allow another section to be opened, so...i have 34 students in a class that is supposed to have 32 (not too bad, unless they all stay until the end of the semester). i am teaching 3 classes and therefore have a total of about 65 students in BIO 111 and 16 students in BIO 112 - multiply that by four exams and one paper and 10 labs and 10 quizes per class and you begin to see what i am going to be doing this semester. i will live and i will (mostly) enjoy it and it is a great place to be (my co-workers are awesome). i have to keep in mind that this is a good/safe place to be teaching and learning the ropes.

ok - today is fonda's birthday and i am going to go and help her with her room so she can get some crafting done soon.

peace.

moving...

wow, i do not like packing things to move to other places...and it just seems to never end...you know..."oh, don't forget to pack...(some thing you will not be able to fit into the car and you NEED on the other end)" and all that stuff...and then the cost to the movers (yeah, we are using movers, can't see me and fonda unloading the truck at the other end by ourselves) and the costs of the deposits and all that jazz to hook up things on the other end before we get the deposits back on this end...jez-e-cow! and then the cost to drug the kitties before we drag them 2.5 hrs and submit them to crazyness on the other end...wish we could make it easier for them...

and THEN...fonda wants to have a yard sale (which i love by the way (NOT!))...it will be good and may pay for cleaning the carpeting in two rooms and maybe pay the woman who has been cleaning for us (yes, we have someone clean the kitchen/floor/bathrooms - and i am VERY happy for this) - and she is coming to do a full clean of the house after all is moved out, YAY! but the people down here are CRAZY about yard sales - they gear up at like, 6am to start the tour - CRAZY! gotta remember to post "no early birds" but it will not stop them, i know it! sigh.

all i wanna do is teach, and this is crazy...but long-distance is crazier - besides the $$ for rent @ two places and the "fun" of roomies...sigh...(oh, and i have ALREADY heard from my "favorite" student, who will be in my 112 class - oh, joy - classes do not start for another 17 days and she emailed me a week ago or so - eye roll).

"...and all shall be well..." and "that which does not kill me only makes me stronger" (though sometimes it would be nice to have it kill you - smile).

peace for now - sleep and then dr. appts and errands tomorrow then MORE PACKING!!! yay! (not!) peace. enjoy the cat (franklynn) video... :)

wow, long time no postings

wow, hard to believe it has been six weeks since my last posting...we have been busy little campers - packing to move 125 miles from Greenville to Leland, NC. i will be teaching at Brunswick Community College again this fall/spring. we are all moving - including the kitties and it has been a challenge to get things packed and ready to move. this is an expensive adventure ($2000 for moving, deposits at the "new" house, deposits at the utilities...) it never ends... well, i guess it will, eventually, but then we are likely to have to move again, as i will continue to apply for full-time positions around the SE. i am thinking that we may be keeping the boxes and packing supplies for the next move that i hope will be more permanent.

we can't believe that we have so much *stuff* AND WE GOT RID OF SO MUCH already! wow.

i have not been sleeping well with the worries about the moves and the new semester/classes. i will be teaching BIO 111 and 112 - i may have a second section of 111, but that is TBD still...i will welcome the money, but not necessarily the stress, but i also have to get "used" to the idea of teaching more than 1 or 2 classes concurrently...wow...ch-ch-ch-changes : )

more later, but likely not until after the move = august 10! we shall see.

peace.

2011 QWAC challenge quilt

OK, so we had a challenge - using the first letter of both your first and last name, come up with two colors and use them as the dominant colors in a quilted object - what ever size you please, whatever form you please... due today (June 3, 2011). We had 3 months to come up with it and make it so...this is my answer:

Kumquat and Kiwi (orange and green) - about 32" square



and of course, there is a fish...


my plan is for this to hang in my office when, i get one... (i have another interview next week with yet another place...)

peace.

i finally got my blue hydrangea!

YAY!




they start out white and go to blue...

well, no one loves me, i guess

well, here i sit...waiting for news from all the plethra of applications i have submitted...i am waiting for up-thumb or down-thumb for the next step at Francis Marion University, but we shall see...then i need to make some kind of decision about *when* do i stop trying for this fall and just decide to go back to BCC and how do we do that (fonda, et al. moving down, or just renting again - but NOT with the old roomies) and by what date to i need to make these decisions - AND, if we make the decision to move down to brunswick, do we buy or rent? and what the heck do we do with all our *stuff*?

feeling a bit lost and like no one loves me...oh, well. it could always be worse, i guess. i just need to keep breathing...

and now for a bit of recent photos around the house...

we have some nice stinky flowers on the corners of the house - very attractive to bees - this kind and honey bees and, i think, maybe another kind of bee (and butterflies, but i haven't gotten photos yet)


a wasp has decided that one of our large snail shells makes a good place for a nest - i am not so sure...


and webster hiding in his "man-cave" (aka: my quilt into which he has burrowed)


enough for now...enjoy and peace.